


Prodigal Holt

by NorahBolt56



Category: Remington Steele (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24954733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorahBolt56/pseuds/NorahBolt56
Summary: This is my take on whatever became of the third Holt sibling (who Laura’s mother inferred the existence of when she mentioned once that Laura was her middle child).
Relationships: Laura Holt/Remington Steele
Comments: 9
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

Mr Steele walked into the agency one morning and after greeting Mildred noticed a young man who looked to be in his mid to late twenties sitting in the reception area. “New client?” he asked Mildred with a raise of an eyebrow as he nodded in the young man’s direction. Mildred shook her head and replied under her breath, “No I don’t think so. He said he’s here to see Miss Holt.”

“And where is Miss Holt?” Remington asked as she was usually in before him in the morning. “She’s already out interviewing a potential new client,” Mildred explained.

His curiosity piqued he looked at the young man again, wondering who he could be. He had dark blonde hair and brown eyes and a bit of stubble on his face Remington noticed. He was dressed casually in jeans, boots and a t-shirt under a leather jacket. Remington wondered if he could be another of Laura’s ex-boyfriends, remembering how Wilson Jeffries had turned up at the agency in a similar fashion a few years previously. Although this fellow looked about as far removed from the straight laced Wilson Jeffries that you could get – he didn’t really look like Laura’s ‘type’, well former type anyway he thought to himself as the hint of a lopsided grin crossed his face, as he reflected on how their relationship had progressed of late. An annoying memory then popped into his head of her shortlived dalliance with that neanderthal Butch Beamis, so he guessed it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that she had had some sort of relationship with this fellow at some stage, although he did look to be a bit younger than her.

With those thoughts in mind he walked over to the man and introduced himself, noticing something familiar about his features as he did so, which he couldn’t quite put his finger on. “Good morning I’m Remington Steele – I understand you’re here to see Miss Holt?” he said as the younger man looked up at him. “Yeah I am - is she going to be long?” he asked in a slightly impatient tone and reading people as he could, Remington noticed he seemed somewhat anxious.

“I’m sure she’ll be back very soon,” Remington reassured him. “In the meantime is there something I could help you with Mr..?” he added expectantly.

The young man didn’t get a chance to reply though as Laura then walked in through the agency door and on spying him talking to Mr Steele, froze in her tracks, her expression changing quickly from shock to anger, Remington observed. She hadn’t seen him for quite some time but she would recognize that face anywhere, as a host of memories suddenly flooded back to her.

She strode up to them and casting a less than happy look at the young man as he stood up to greet her she demanded, “What are you doing here Andy?”

He flashed her a dimpled grin as he replied, “Nice to see you too sis.”

**************************************

“Sis?” Remington asked in shock and disbelief, wondering at first if he’d heard right, as some of the unknown pieces of Laura’s past started falling into place, as he remembered her mother mentioning the first time he met her that Laura was her middle child. But Laura had never mentioned having another sibling other than her older sister Frances. But as he looked at the young man he realised the family resemblance between him and Laura was undeniable. Although his hair was fairer and more like his mother’s colour Remington presumed, he had the same deep brown eyes that both Laura and Frances possessed and his dimpled grin was very similar to Laura’s, as was the spattering of freckles on his face.

Laura momentarily took her eyes off the young man to reply somewhat awkwardly, “Mr Steele – this is my younger brother, Andrew Holt.”

“Pleased to meet you Mr Steele and you can call me Andy. Nobody calls me Andrew except my mother,” he put in with a grin as he shook a dumbfounded Remington’s hand. 

“Who you never call!” Laura couldn’t help but snap at her younger sibling who rolled his eyes at her, another thing they had in common, Remington observed. “Oh don’t start trying to lay some guilt trip on me Laura – I doubt she’d want to hear from me anyway. And I didn’t come here to fight with you,” Andy retorted.

“Well what did you come here for then? Short of cash again are we?” Laura thew back at him in a sarcastic tone.

At that he focused his gaze on the ground for a moment or two then looking at her stated sincerely, “I need your help sis. And no I don’t need money – I need you to help me find someone, well two people actually.”

Laura crossed her arms in front of her and looked at him a little skeptically. “And who would that be?” she asked.

Andy hesitated for a moment then replied, “My girlfriend and our baby,” as Laura looked at him in shock.

“What?? You have a baby?! Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded as her brother looked uncomfortable.

“I was going to I swear Laura, but it had been so long since we’d spoken – I didn’t know whether you wanted to hear from me or not. I know that sounds gutless but I has this grand plan of bringing them both back home so they could meet my family and you could meet the love of my life and our little boy. His name’s Matteo,” he said proudly as Laura’s expression softened considerably.

“I can’t believe my baby brother has a baby,” she stated as she shook her head and he grinned and pulled a photo out of his wallet and handed it to her. “See there is he with Ariana – we met in Rome and I just knew she was the one. We’d been together for about a year when we discovered she was pregnant – not exactly planned but I wouldn’t change a thing,” he enthused as Laura smiled at the photo of the little nephew she never knew she had.

“So you said you needed help finding them? What happened?” Remington asked with concern.

“That’s just the thing - I don’t know Mr Steele,” Andy despaired. “We flew into LA yesterday and booked into a hotel. Ariana said she wanted to take Matteo for a walk to get some fresh air but they never came back,” Andy replied, his brow furrowed with worry. “Have you reported them missing to the police?” Laura asked the obvious question. “Of course I have Laura but I figured I could do with all the help I could get – after all when your sister works for a famous detective that’s gotta be a big help right?” he asked hopefully as Laura and Remington exchanged a glance, both of them thinking, if only he knew the truth, secrets seeming to be the order of the day.


	2. Chapter 2

After talking with Laura and Mr Steele for a while, the two of them assuring him they would do everything they could to help him find out what had happened to Ariana and Matteo, Andy headed back to the hotel to grab some clothes as Laura had suggested he stay with her rather than in a hotel for the time being. He was also hoping that there might be some remote chance his girlfriend and their son had turned up safe and sound at the hotel.

Once Mildred headed out to lunch, Laura and Remington found themselves alone and she decided to enlighten him about her brother who she had never told him about.

“When our father left it hit us all hard in different ways,” Laura explained. “Andy was fourteen – a crucial time in a young boy’s life when he really needs a father figure I guess.” Remington nodded in agreement as he listened patiently to her revelations about her long lost younger brother, remembering his own younger self at that age who had sorely needed a father figure as well and had found one in some shape or form in Daniel Chalmers.

“Frances tried to follow Mother’s lead and pretended like everything was fine and life should just go on – plus she was older and had been dating Donald for a while and had him to lean on. I on the other hand withdrew into myself and I guess rebelled a bit. But nothing compared to Andy – he really went off the rails. He started skipping school and got in with a bad crowd, even got himself into some minor trouble with the law,” Laura told him as she shook her head a little despairingly.

“ Ah.. a fellow miscreant,” Remington quipped with a smile, trying to lighten her mood a little as she returned his smile with a rueful one of her own.

“Yeah you could say that,” she sighed. “I tried as best I could to get him back on the straight and narrow but he wasn’t about to be told what to do by his older sister. We’d always been a bit competitive with each other I guess but we were also close – I think I sometimes had more in common with him than with Frances. He was my ‘partner in crime’ – he had a great propensity for getting up to mischief and more often than not somehow shifting the blame onto me,” she remembered with a wry chuckle. “But we had a lot of fun too – playing baseball and building tree houses and stuff like that,” she added as a wistful look momentarily crossed her face.

“What about your Mother? How did she cope with him acting out like that?” Remington asked. 

“Not well,” Laura sighed. “She was already devastated by my father leaving and what I have come to realise over the years is that she went into a deep depression at that time, so she had trouble coping with anything, let alone a rebellious fourteen year old boy who was hurt and angry over his father leaving. Oh she tried the best she could I guess but in the end I think she just gave up. Being the baby of the family and the only boy she had always spoilt him, which I remember her and my father arguing about a lot. He thought she was too soft on him and as a result he was too tough on him I think. So when Andy started rebelling against her she didn’t know how to deal with it or how to get him under control. I remember Donald even trying to talk to him once about it but Andy didn’t want a bar of it – he ended up shutting us all out. Another male in my life who let me down,” Laura stated with a trace of bitterness in her voice that Remington immediately picked up on.

“That must have hurt,” he commented perceptively as Laura nodded and found herself blinking back a tear or two. “Yeah it did,” she confessed. “And then when I went away to college I guess we drifted even further apart. He dropped out of high school and one day he had a huge fight with Mother then he packed up his stuff and left. I think that hurt my Mother even more than my father leaving in some ways, and she didn’t even want to hear his name after that.”

“So did you have any contact with him after that?” Remington asked curiously.

“Sporadically at best. I knew a few of his old friends so I tried to keep track of his whereabouts through them but after a while he lost contact with most of them too. He hardly ever got in touch except when he needed money or something – if Mother knew I’d given it to him or seen him even, I think she would have killed me,” Laura replied wryly. ”So after a while I got tired of being the one making the effort all the time while he couldn’t seem to care less about how I was doing. The last time I saw him was a few years ago – not long before you entered my life actually. He said he was going overseas for a while – I have no idea where he went though. So I guess I got used to living without him in my life but..I missed my little brother,” she confessed as one of the tears she had tried to hold back spilt down her cheek.

Remington tenderly wiped it away then pulled her into his embrace. “That’s why you’ve never mentioned him eh?” he asked gently as she nodded against his chest. “I gather that photo of the young boy you had in your old house was him?”

“Yes it was – one of the few I still had of him,” Laura confirmed, her tone tinged with sadness as she remembered that and her other precious possessions she had lost when her former home had exploded. “I didn’t know you had noticed that – you never asked about it,” she added.

“Well I gathered there were some secrets in your past you weren’t ready to reveal just yet – a concept I guess I’m ah..rather familiar with as well,” he replied understandingly. “But I must admit I was curious as to who the boy in the photo was. Especially as Abigail had let slip the first time I met her that you were her middle child.”

Laura looked at him in surprise. “She did? How on earth did that come up in conversation?” she asked.

“Well as I recall she mentioned that you once hid in the laundry basket when you were young and that you were her sensitive middle child,” Remington replied with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

“Oh she did now did she?” Laura replied, not knowing whether to be annoyed or amused then added, “Well If I remember correctly I was hiding in there because Andy had broken some ornament and blamed it on me and Mother believed him and I was sick of him getting away with it again.”

“So any ideas how we’re going to help him find his girlfriend and son?” Remington asked the question she’d been asking herself. Laura sighed as she shook her head. “No not really. I mean I hate to say this but the only two theories I have are both equally devastating. Either she’s taken the baby and left him, or more disturbingly, perhaps they met with foul play. Niether of which he’s going to be happy to hear.”

Remington nodded in agreement then Laura reluctantly stepped away from his embrace. In reply to his questioning look she replied wryly, “Speaking of things people aren’t going to be happy to hear, I guess I should ring my Mother and Frances and tell them he’s home.”

**************************************


	3. Chapter 3

“I know that Frances but he’s our brother! We have to help him,” Laura implored her sister, the conversation not going as well as she had hoped it would. Remington poked his head into her office to see how it was going and seeing her rub her forehead in consternation figured not so well. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her to which she responded with a shake of her head which told him all he needed to know.

“I don’t have to do anything Laura. May I remind you he turned his back on us, his family!” Frances argued. “Look I know he did but he was hurting..,” Laura tried to defend him but Frances wasn’t having a bar of it.

“We were all hurting Laura,” Frances cut her off. “Why are you defending him anyway? I know you two were always thick as thieves but seriously Laura?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Laura couldn’t help but snap back.

“You and Andy were always doing things together and well..I guess I felt a bit like a third wheel,” Frances admitted which stopped Laura in her tracks. “I..I never knew you felt like that,” Laura replied. “Well I did,” Frances retorted somewhat defensively, the two sisters falling back into the bickering patterns of their childhood.

“Frances I don’t want to argue with you and I’m sorry you felt like that,” Laura sighed. “But please just think about it okay?”

“Okay, okay I’ll think about it,” Frances relented somewhat then added, “But I’m not promising anything.”

“Alright thanks. Say hi to Donald and the kids,” Laura replied before hanging up.

She closed her eyes for a moment and blew out an exasperated breath.

“I gather it didn’t go so well with your sister?” Remington commented sympathetically as Laura gave him a wry look. “You could say that. And I thought she’d be the easy one,” she replied. “I mean I get it – Andy did turn his back on us. But he needs our help and he’s family.”

Remington looked at her for a moment or two not really knowing what to say. He had no experience of having a family of his own so he had no real understanding of what she was going though. But he did know that she had a big heart and a soft spot for rogues in need of reform, and that she needed his support now more than ever.

He came up behind her and began gently massaging the tension out of her shoulders. “Well I can’t profess to know what you’re going through Laura but I do know that Andy is very lucky to have a sister like you,” he stated encouragingly as she covered one of his hands with hers and leant back into him, relaxing under his touch. “Thanks,” she replied gratefully with a watery half smile. “I just hope I’m doing the right thing, bringing him back into the fold, well trying to anyway.”

“Well that’s all any of us can do in life eh? Keep on trying and hope we’re doing the right thing,” Remington stated with an encouraging smile as Laura nodded. “Well I guess I better call Mother – I can’t put it off forever,” she sighed as Remington gave her shoulders an affectionate squeeze and wished her luck before going back into his own office so she could have some privacy for what he was sure was going to be a difficult conversation.

A short time later Andy got back to the agency and seeing an office door open went in, hoping to find Laura. “Oh sorry Mr Steele – I’ll just wait in the reception area for Laura,” he apologized but Remington beckoned him in.

“No come in Andy – have a seat. Perhaps we can have a chat while you’re waiting for your sister, get to know each other a bit better eh? She could be a while – she was calling your mother,” Remington stated as Andy rolled his eyes as he sat down. “Oh great. I can just imagine what her reaction is going to be,” he stated ruefully.

“I ah gather you didn’t find your girlfriend and son waiting for you back at the hotel?” Remington asked.

“No I’m afraid not Mr Steele. I wish I knew where they were – it’s killing me not knowing,” Andy replied as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

“Yes I can imagine,” Remington sympathized. “And please call me Remington.”

“Okay..Remington. Sorry man but how did you get a name like that?” Andy asked with the hint of a dimpled grin.

“Well how about you ask your sister about that eh?” Remington replied cryptically with a lopsided grin of his own, which left Andy rather puzzled.

“Speaking of which – what’s the go with you and my sister?” Andy got straight to the point as Remington thought to himself that forthrightness appeared to be a Holt family trait.

Remington put on his best poker face and replied, “What do you mean?”

“Well its obvious from the way she looks at you and the way you look at her that you got something more going on than just boss and employee – am I right?” Laura’s brother replied as he looked expectantly at Remington.

He tugged on an earlobe for a moment before responding. “Well that’s very astute of you Andy. Yes we do have a personal as well as a professional relationship - we’re ah still working out the finer details of the personal side of things I guess you could say.”

Andy looked at him for a moment or two, sizing him up a bit. “Well just don’t hurt her huh? She’s had enough guys letting her down in her life already – me included,” he stated ruefully.

“I assure you I have no intention of hurting your sister Andy. I care very much about her,” Remington replied earnestly as Andy nodded. “Good to hear. I know I haven’t been in her life as much as I should have over the years but I care about her too,” Andy admitted.

“So if that’s the case why haven’t you been in her life more? I know she missed you,” Remington asked as he gave him a pointed look.

Andy sighed as he shook his head a little. “I missed her too. And Frances and Mom,” he confessed. “I don’t how much Laura’s told you about our father leaving?”

“She’s told me a bit but not that much. I know she was very hurt by his leaving..as I gather you all were,” Remington replied as Andy nodded.

“Yeah when our old man split our whole life got turned upside down and I guess we all reacted in different ways. Mom just kind of shut down, Frances was pretty much engaged to Donald by then anyways and just tried to go on like nothing much had changed - well that’s how it seemed to me anyway.”

“And Laura?” Remington asked curiously.

“She threw herself into her schoolwork as a way of coping I guess,” Andy replied as Remington thought to himself, nothing much has changed, given Laura’s tendency to still bury herself in work rather than face problems sometimes. “Guess it paid off for her – getting a scholarship to Stanford and all,” Andy added as Remington nodded.

“But his leaving changed her. She wasn’t as carefree as she used to be and while she’d always been determined to prove herself, she became even more so after that. Laura was always his favorite. No matter what I did it always seemed to pale in comparison to her. She was always smarter, faster – she even played baseball better than I did. But I still kept trying to do everything I could to impress him even though it was never enough. I guess I always was the Holt family screw up – Frances was the perfect one, never a step out of place, Laura was the smart, accomplished one and I was the little troublemaker,” Andy stated ruefully as Remington listened patiently, keen to get an insight into Laura’s past.

“And then one day he was just gone. I was only fourteen and suddenly I didn’t have a Dad anymore and I was angry and hurt and just wanted to lash out I guess. Unfortunately my mother and sisters bore the brunt of all that,” he added, his tone and expression tinged with both shame & regret.

Remington nodded understandingly, remembering his own fourteen year old self. Filled with anger & hurt at the father he had never known abandoning him and leaving him to fend for himself. He wondered to himself what would be worse, never knowing your father, or knowing your father for a period of time only to have him abandon you.

“I imagine that must have been hard for you at that age,” he stated as Andy nodded. “It was.. but looking back now I know I put them through hell. I just felt so alone and like no-one understood me. Well Laura tried but I didn’t want to admit to my sister that I missed him – I mean boys are supposed to be tough and not show their emotions right?” Andy went on as Remington smiled a little ruefully and nodded. “Yes unfortunately that’s the expectation far too often,” he agreed, recalling his own youth when he had tried to hide his own feelings of loneliness and sadness behind a tough, angry bravado.

“When she went off to college I felt even more on my own. Oh Mom tried I guess but she had no idea how to get through to a teenage boy who was out of control,” Andy explained.

“I notice you call Abigail Mom whereas I’ve only ever heard your sisters call her Mother?” Remington observed as a somewhat cheeky grin crossed Andy’s face. “Yeah I was the only one who could ever get away with calling her that. I guess she did have a soft spot for me, being the youngest and only boy – she was definitely tougher on the girls. Now having my own son I realise how hard it must have been for her when I was getting into trouble and then when I left home,” he replied as he shook his head regretfully.

“So where did you go when you left?” Remington asked.

“Everywhere,” Andy replied wryly. “I hung out at friends’ places for a while – bunked down on their sofas and what not. Then after a while I decided to strike out on my own, trying to find my way in the world I guess.”

Remington looked thoughtfully at him as he told him that, recognizing somewhat of a kindred spirit in Laura’s brother.

“I did try and keep in touch with Laura from time to time – mostly when I found myself between jobs and needed some dough,” Andy admitted with a fair degree of guilt.

“When I last saw her a few years ago I guess she’d had enough and I’d finally worn her patience too thin. She’d not long broken up with that jerk Wilson and she wasn’t in a great place, but instead of being there for her I came crying to her again with my own problems. When she tried to tell me it was time I grew up and started standing on my own two feet well I guess I didn’t want to hear that, even though deep down I knew it was true. We argued and then I stormed out - I guess we both said some things in the heat of the moment we shouldn’t have.”

“Having Matteo made me finally realise it’s time to grow up and be more responsible I suppose. I just hope he and Ariana are okay,” he stated worriedly.

“I promise you mate we’ll do all we can to find them,” Remington reassured him. “I hate to have to ask this, but how were things between you and Ariana? Did you argue or anything before they left for the walk?”

Andy shook his head. “No we didn’t – things were great, or so I thought. She did seem a little anxious on the flight but she told me she didn’t like flying.”

“Hmm well I’m sure with your sister on the case we’ll find them as soon as possible,” Remington stated encouragingly just as said sister walked though the adjoining door from her office.

“Oh hi Andy I didn’t realise you were back,” Laura greeted him. “I’ve just been talking to Mother,” she added as she gave her younger brother a meaningful look. “And how did that go?” he asked almost warily. “How do you think?” Laura replied with a rueful shake of her head. As she’d expected, their Mother was less than happy to hear about the return of her ‘prodigal son’.

“I guess dear old Mom isn’t about to welcome me back with open arms,” Andy stated drolly.

“Well that’s putting it mildly Andy. But let’s deal with that later – right now we need to find out what’s happened to Ariana and Matteo,” Laura stated adamantly, finding it easier to focus on the case than deal with the mixture of emotions she was feeling at the moment….


	4. Chapter 4

Laura than swung into full investigator mode, calling Detective Jarvis of the LAPD. “He’s going to have a word to the guys in Missing Persons to see if they’ve come up with any leads,” she informed Andy once she’d hung up the phone as he nodded gratefully. She then made a few photocopies of the photo of Ariana and Matteo then grabbed her Fedora and handbag. “Where are you going?” Remington asked, puzzled.

“Correction Mr Steele – where are we going. And to answer that question we are going to do what you love best about this job – legwork,” she informed him with the hint of a mischievous grin as she beckoned for him and her brother to follow her, Remington trying to hide his slight grimace.

Once they were in the parking lot they piled into the Rabbit, Andy hopping in the back. As he did so he spied the Auburn parked next to it. “Oh now that’s a classic – what a beauty,” he remarked in admiration. “She certainly is,” Remington replied with a lopsided grin. “Do you own it?” Andy asked excitedly as Remington nodded then clarified, “Well the agency does.”

“I never thought I’d see a 1936 Supercharged Speedster up close,” Andy enthused. “Car enthusiast eh?” Remington asked. “Yeah you could say that – I’m a mechanic,” Andy replied as Laura turned around to look at her brother. “You are?” she asked in surprise as she wasn’t aware of that.

“Sure am – I put myself through trade school a few years ago,” he announced with a degree of pride. “You know how much I loved tinkering with things and taking them apart when I was a kid and I’d always been interested in cars so I figured becoming a mechanic made sense.”

Laura smiled at him. “I’m proud of you little brother,” she stated genuinely as he flashed her the same dimpled smile and thanked her.

As she took off out of the parking lot, her pedal to the metal, Andy couldn’t help but laugh, “I see your driving hasn’t changed sis,” as Remington tired to hide a smirk at the look on her face.

Andy directed her to the hotel where they’d been staying as she figured that would be a good place to start their search for clues to Ariana and Matteo’s disappearance. She gave Andy’s photo of Ariana and Matteo back to him then handed one of the copies she’d made to Remington. “I suggest we start door knocking local stores and businesses to see if anyone saw them and regroup back here say in an hour?” she stated as the two men nodded. “Good idea,” Remington nodded in agreement.

“Laura..thankyou,”Andy said sincerely as he suddenly hugged her. “You’re welcome and you don’t need to thank me - you’re my brother, of course I’m going to help you,” she replied as she hugged him back. “Yeah well I know I haven’t been the greatest brother,” he replied, as he shook his head with self-derision. “Hey nobody’s perfect,” Laura replied with a reassuring smile then added, “We’re going to find them Andy.”

“I hope you’re right sis,” Andy replied, trying to quell the doubt he was feeling. “Of course I’m right,” she stated confidently with a twinkle in her brown eyes.

“I’d recommend you don’t argue with her mate - you won’t win,” Remington quipped with a grin as Laura rolled her eyes at him and Andy replied with a wry chuckle, “Oh I know that - believe me I learnt that from a very early age.”

She playfully went to hit him as he ducked almost like a reflex action. “Lucky I’m taller than I used to be when we were kids hey?” he stated cheekily as Laura couldn’t help but laugh, “You’ll keep little brother,” the two of them momentarily slipping back into the competitive yet playful banter they’d often engaged in as children.

The three of them then headed off in different directions, scouring the streets for any clues. Laura lost count of how many shops and businesses she entered and showed the photo to the occupants, only to come up empty handed when none of them recalled seeing the young woman and baby. Looking at her watch she decided she better start heading back to the hotel then she spied a small grocery store a bit further down the street she was on. On a hunch she headed to it and asked the man behind the counter if he’d seen them, showing him the photo as she did so. The man looked thoughtfully at the photo for a moment or two then informed her, “Yeah I think I did see them actually. They were in here not so long ago – she was after some baby formula and she picked up some fruit as well.”

Laura’s eyes lit up hopefully – it was the best lead she’d had all day. “Did you happen to see what direction they went in?” she asked.

“I think she turned right when she left the store - there’s a little park a block or so up, maybe she headed there seeing as it’s such a nice day?” he replied as Laura nodded and thanked him then left the store and walked quickly up the street until she found the park. There were quite a few mothers with young children and babies there enjoying the sunshine and as she perused them all she recognized one sitting on a bench with her baby on her lap from the photo her brother had given her.

Laura slowly approached them and as she got closer she could see it was definitely Ariana and Matteo. “Mind if I sit down?” she asked with a smile as the young woman shook her head with a watery smile and gestured for her to sit down, as Laura saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes. “Beautiful day isn’t it?” Laura remarked casually, not wanting to reveal who she was just yet lest she scare her off. She wasn’t sure why she had left her brother at the hotel but she certainly looked upset. At this point in time she was just glad she’d found them safe and sound.

Not really looking at the woman who had sat down next to her Ariana replied in an Italian accent, “Yes I guess it is,” although she wasn’t really feeling that way, despite the weather. Laura looked at her little nephew and noticed that although he had his mother’s dark hair, his features were very much like Andy’s. Trying to hide the emotional catch in her voice she said, “Your little boy is gorgeous – what’s his name?”

“Thankyou – his name is Matteo,” Ariana confirmed as she looked at the woman who smiled warmly at her and as she did so Ariana noticed something familiar about her.

“So what brings you out here today?” Laura asked gently as Ariana sighed a little. She wasn’t sure why but she felt like she could talk to this woman. “I..needed some fresh air and it’s good for Matteo to get some sunshine,” she replied as Laura nodded. “And you?” Ariana asked curiously looking at the woman’s business attire which looked a little out of place at the park.

Laura hesitated for a moment then replied, “I’m helping someone close to me find something very valuable that he lost.”

“You think he lost it here?” Ariana asked.

“I’m not sure. I’m hoping it’s not lost forever – just misplaced. I know it means the world to him,” Laura replied as she gave the younger woman a meaningful look and decided it was time to introduce herself.

“I’m Laura by the way,” she said, then added gently, “Laura Holt. I’m Andy’s sister. He asked for my help to find you and Matteo. I’m not sure why you left the hotel but I know Andy is very worried about the two of you. If you need to talk I’m happy to listen.”

Ariana looked at her a little shocked at first then stated, “Now I see the resemblance – you have his eyes and his smile. I.. I’m pleased to meet you Laura – Andy has told me a lot about you. I’m Ariana but I guess you already know that.”

Laura nodded. “I’m pleased to meet you too Ariana and little Matteo here,” she replied with a warm smile. “I know we hardly know each other but do you mind if I ask why you left the hotel?”

Ariana hurriedly wiped the tears away that had spilt down her cheeks. “I’m not sure really – I mean I love your brother very much and I didn’t mean to worry him. I know I should have called him to let him know where we were, but I felt so foolish,“ she tried to explain as Laura listened patiently. “I guess I..how do you say..’freaked out’ a bit when we came to Los Angeles,” she continued.

“Why is that?” Laura asked with concern. “Like Andy and yourself, my father left my mother when I was young – I don’t really remember him that much though as I was only four when he left. I guess that’s one thing that Andy and I bonded over. I never knew where my father had gone until my mother got sick a few years ago - before she passed she told me my father, who is American, had gone back to Los Angeles when he left. I know it’s silly to think in this big city I might somehow bump into him but just the thought of it kept playing on my mind.”

“Did you tell Andy this?” Laura asked as Ariana shook her head.

“No I didn’t. I know I should have but he was already stressed about coming back home and worrying about whether his family would want to see him, let alone meet me and Matteo. And I guess I’ve been a bit up and down emotionally since I had the baby – I thought it would pass but it hasn’t really. Don’t get me wrong Laura, Andy is very supportive and a wonderful father but sometimes men don’t understand such things. I just felt like I had to be on my own for a little while to sort my head out, so when I took Matteo for a walk yesterday I just kept on walking. I found another hotel and stayed there last night. But please understand I never meant to hurt your brother,” she stated and then burst into tears as she hugged Matteo to her.

Laura put a comforting arm around her. “I know you didn’t. That must have been very hard for you to come to a new country, all the while wondering if you were going to run into your estranged father. I don’t know what I’d do if I ever ran into mine,” she sympathized as she fished a tissue out of her handbag and handed it to Ariana who accepted it gratefully. “Do you think maybe you should tell Andy this though?” Laura suggested with a smile as Ariana nodded.

“And I don’t mean to pry but have you thought of speaking to someone about how you’ve been feeling since you had Matteo? I don’t have any children myself but I’ve heard it’s quite common to feel like that. Our sister Frances has three kids and I remember her having not so great a time for a while after she had them, especially with Mindy, her middle one. There’s not much of a gap between her and her older brother Danny, so Frances had a toddler and a baby to contend with and she struggled a bit - as much as she didn’t want to admit it at first. We’ve got closer in recent years and she told me about it,” Laura said.

“I haven’t but I guess I should. I wish I still had my mother to get advice from,” Ariana admitted. As she said that Matteo started fussing a bit. “Would you like me to take him?” Laura offered as Ariana nodded and smiling gratefully at her handed the baby boy to Laura. “Say hello to your Zia Laura, Matteo,” she said as Laura carefully cradled him in her arms. “Hi there Matteo – aren’t you just the cutest? I’m very pleased to meet you,” Laura said softly as her nephew started cooing and gurgling as he looked up at her and her heart melted.

“So would you like children one day Laura?” Ariana asked as she watched her with Matteo. Laura smiled and replied, “One day I guess,” as she found herself picturing herself with a baby and Remington by her side. “And do you have someone in mind you might like to have one with?” Ariana asked perceptively. “Yes..yes I think I do,” Laura admitted as her smile got a bit wider. And while that admission gave her hope it also scared her a bit so she decided to put it to the back of her mind, for now anyway. “Anyway how about we get you two back to Andy hey?” she suggested, eager to change the subject a bit, as she placed Matteo back into his pram. “Thank you Laura – thank you for finding us and being so understanding. Andy was right – you are great,” Ariana stated gratefully as Laura smiled at her then they set off together back to the hotel where Andy and Remington were waiting expectantly for Laura to return.


	5. Chapter 5

They got back to the hotel to find a very relieved Andy and Remington waiting for them. “Oh Ariana – babe! Thank goodness the two of you are okay - I was so worried about you both,” Andy exclaimed as he wrapped both Ariana and their son in his arms. “I’m sorry I worried you Andy,” Ariana replied as Laura and Remington looked on smiling.

“Oh this is Remington Steele – Laura’s ah.. boss,” Andy introduced them with a mischievous twinkle in his eye as Laura shot both him and Remington a questioning look. “Lovely to meet you Ariana and please call me Remington,” he greeted her with a smile. “Glad to see you and the little fella are okay.”

“How about we all head back to my loft? You’re family after all – you shouldn’t be staying in a hotel,” Laura said warmly as Andy and Ariana both thanked her.

Once they’d arrived back at the loft, Laura made some room in her closet for their clothes and some space for Matteo’s portable cot in her bedroom area. “Thank you Laura – we don’t want to put you out though,” Ariana stated as Laura shook her head with a smile saying, “You’re not putting me out at all – I’m happy to have you. Now can I get another cuddle of this little guy?” as she looked at little Matteo.

“Of course,” Ariana replied as she handed him to Laura to hold. Remington couldn’t help a smile crossing his face as he watched Laura holding the baby, his mind going back to a particular dream he’d had sometime before where he and Laura had a family of their own, an idea he’d had to admit he’d found rather appealing. The expression on his face as he watched her didn’t go unnoticed by Andy and Ariana who shared a smile of their own.

“You look like a natural sis,” Andy commented with a grin as Laura found herself blushing a little as Remington’s eyes found hers. “Well it’s easy with such a good baby,” she replied quickly, focusing her attention on her little nephew.

While Laura held Matteo and chatted with Andy and Ariana, Remington made some coffee and tea for them all. Ariana noticed with interest how well he knew his way around Laura’s kitchen as she started to get the feeling there was more to his relationship with Laura than just working together.

When they had put Matteo down to sleep, Ariana decided to take a shower to freshen up and Remington offered to pop out to get some groceries, leaving the two siblings some time to talk. “Thanks again for finding them Laura – I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to them,’ Andy stated as Laura smiled at him. “You’re welcome – I’m just glad we found them safe and sound.”

They were both silent for a minute or two then Andy asked, “Do you ever think about him? Do you wonder why he left and where he went, and where he is now?” in reference to their father.

Laura hesitated for a moment, her gaze focused on the ground then she replied, her voice quiet, “Yes sometimes.”

Andy nodded. “Me too. After having Matteo I just can’t understand how a father could abandon his children.“

“I could never understand that either,” Laura agreed with a sigh.

“Did you ever think about trying to find him? I mean if anyone could, you could Laura, being a private investigator and all.”

“I must admit there were times the thought did cross my mind but then I thought, what would I do if I actually found him? Even though his leaving hurt a lot, I guess I’ve got used to not having him in my life, so would I really want him to be part of it again?” Laura confessed.

“Yeah I hear ya sis,” Andy replied. “I don’t know what I’d do if I saw him again – other than deck him,” he added with a wry chuckle and Laura could tell he was only half joking.

“That night you left home – what did you and Mother argue about?” Laura then asked as it had always troubled her. Andy shook his head at the memory. “I guess I’d finally pushed her too far with my getting into trouble. But it was what she said that really got to me – she said I was selfish, just like Dad. I hated her comparing me to him so I yelled back at her ‘I’m nothing like him!’. Then I stormed upstairs, grabbed some stuff and got the hell out of there.”

“How are you and Mom these days?” Andy then asked as Laura suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable. “A bit better I guess but she still compares me to Frances every chance she gets. I guess though I realise a bit more now how hard it must have been for her when Dad left,” she stated.

Andy ran a hand through his hair as he replied a little regretfully, “Yeah well I guess I didn’t help with that.”

“None of us did,” Laura reassured him. “I mean I ran away to college to get away from her the first chance I got. Don’t get me wrong, she still infuriates the hell out of me at times but I understand a bit more now what she went through when he left.”

Andy looked at his sister thoughtfully. “That Wilson guy really did a number on you huh?” he asked perceptively as she nodded. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you more when he left you,” he apologized sincerely as Laura thanked him with a rueful smile.

“Well for what it’s worth I think Remington seems like a decent guy and he obviously cares about you and your family,” Andy commented as Laura looked at him with some surprise as she hadn’t mentioned to him than her and Mr Steele had anything more than a professional relationship.

“How..how did you know?” she asked as he grinned at her. “You forget sis, I spent enough time around you when we were teenagers to be able to tell when you’re interested in someone huh? Plus I asked him about it and he confirmed my suspicions. He’s an improvement on Marty Klopman that’s for sure,” he replied with a laugh as Laura grabbed a cushion off the lounge and threw it at him as she exclaimed in mock indignation, “Ooh you!”, but couldn’t help a chuckle of her own as she thought to herself, “That’s for sure indeed!”


	6. Chapter 6

Later that day, while her brother helped Remington whip up some dinner for them all, Laura and Ariana found some time to get to know each other a bit more. “So how did you and Andy meet?” Laura asked as Ariana smiled, her eyes travelling to where Andy stood in the kitchen.

“I was on my way into Rome one day from the town I was living in and my car broke down. Andy happened to be driving along the same road and saw me and he stopped and fixed it for me. I took him out to dinner to say thank you and well I guess we hit it off. I’d never met anyone quite like him – he’s so funny and sweet,” she enthused as a grin crossed Laura’s face. “Sweet huh? We’re talking about my brother right?” she laughed good-naturedly as Ariana smiled and nodded.

“I know he’s missed you and your sister and mother,” she stated as she gave Laura a meaningful look.

“We’ve missed him too,” Laura replied then added seriously, “But there’s been a lot of water under the bridge Ariana.. I can only speak for myself. When I told our sister and mother Andy was back they had, well let’s just say, mixed reactions to the news. As much as I’d like to, I can’t promise they’re going to accept him back into their lives.”

Ariana nodded. “I understand. Families can be...complicated,” she empathised, her own expression somewhat downcast. “Do you have any siblings?” Laura asked.

“No I’m an only child. When my father left it was just my mother and I. Then when she passed away I felt so alone – until I met Andy that is. And now we have our own family,” Ariana replied as she looked towards the cot where Matteo was sleeping. 

She then looked over to the two men in the kitchen. “So am I right in assuming you and Remington are more than just colleagues?” Ariana asked perceptively.

Laura gave her a small smile and nodded. “Yes..yes we are. I guess we’re still working out how much more,” Laura admitted as her gaze drifted to Remington.

“Well he seems like a good man and he’s very handsome,” Ariana commented under her breath with a grin which Laura returned. “Yes he is – on both counts,” Laura agreed just as he looked up from what he was doing and meeting her gaze, flashed her a lopsided grin.

After enjoying a delicious dinner and good conversation, the four of them eventually decided to call it a night. Remington bade Andy and Ariana good night and affectionately tousled little Matteo’s hair which brought a smile to Laura’s face.

“Let’s hope he sleeps more than the last little tyke we had here eh?” he said to her as Andy grinned at his sister. “Something you haven’t told me sis?” he quipped as Laura shot him a withering look and replied in a somewhat flustered voice, “During a case we worked on once we found a baby and had to take care of him for a few days.”

She then walked Remington out to the staircase outside her loft. “Thank you for your help today. And dinner was delicious – as always,” Laura stated sincerely. “Not a problem – happy to help,” he replied with a smile. “So..do you think Frances and your mother are going to accept Andy back into the fold as it were?”

Laura sighed, “I wish I had an answer for that. Us Holts can be rather stubborn at times,” shaking her head a little ruefully. “Yes I have noticed that on occasion,” Remington agreed with the hint of a mischievous grin which Laura couldn’t help but return.

“Well you’ve done all you can. I guess the ball’s in their court now eh?” he added as he took her into his arms. Laura leant her head against his chest, needing his strength. She nodded silently, the emotion of the day finally catching up with her as she hurriedly wiped away a few tears. “It’s going to be okay Laura,” Remington murmured into her hair. “How do you know that?” she asked as she looked up at him.

“Well from what I’ve observed over the years even though you and your mother and sister don’t see eye to eye all the time, there is a lot of love in the Holt family, despite what your father leaving did to you all,” Remington stated sincerely. “And I think that love still extends to your brother as well.”

“I hope you’re right,” Laura replied as his lips found hers in a kiss. “When has Remington Steele ever been wrong eh?” he quipped cheekily in an attempt to lighten her mood somewhat, as her lips curved into a smile against his. “When indeed Mr Steele?” Laura couldn’t help but laugh. “Now get out of here – I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Indeed you will Miss Holt, indeed you will,” he replied as he cocked an eyebrow at her then stole another kiss before heading down the stairs to the ground floor.

**************************************************

The next morning Remington swung by Laura’s loft so they could drive into the office together. He had not long arrived and greeted Laura and her brother and Ariana and little Matteo when they heard another knock on the door. Laura pulled the door open to find Frances and her husband Donald standing there. “Hi Frances, Donald,” Laura greeted them. “Well – where is he then?” Frances asked as she stepped inside, just as Andy emerged from the bathroom.

The two siblings stopped and stared at each other for a moment or two. “Hi Frances,” Andy spoke first, wondering how she was going to react to seeing him again. “Hello Andy,” she replied, her expression tightlipped. “Hey Donald – how’s it going?” Andy greeted his brother-in-law a little awkwardly. “Hi Andy,” Donald replied with a smile, as Frances flashed her husband a warning look which took the smile off his face.

“Ah Ariana I’d like you to meet my eldest sister Frances and her husband Donald. Frances, Donald, this is my girlfriend Ariana and our son Matteo,” Andy made the introductions as Laura and Remington watched on, wondering what was going to happen next.

Ariana stepped forward with Matteo. “Hello Frances, Donald – it’s nice to meet you,” she said as despite Frances’ somewhat frosty reception to her brother, a smile crossed her face as she looked at her little nephew. “Hello Ariana it’s nice to meet you and this little guy too. Well aren’t you just the cutest?” she said as she cooed at the baby boy. “Apart from his hair colour he looks a bit like our eldest Danny when he was a baby – don’t you think Donald?” Frances said as Donald nodded, deciding it was best to agree with her in her current emotional state. “We’ve got three children,” Frances went on to explain to Ariana. “Our son Danny and two daughters – Mindy and Laurie Beth.”

“How are the kids?” Andy asked, trying to make conversation. “Danny must be around ten now hey?”

At that Frances turned her attention back to him, her expression suddenly less than happy again. “He’s twelve actually – but you’d know that if you bothered to keep in touch!” she snapped at him.

“Now Frances..,” Donald went to say in an attempt to calm her down but immediately regretted it when she retorted, “Don’t you ‘Now Frances’ me Donald Piper! I have every right to be upset with him!”

“Frances look I’m sorry okay…,” Andy went to apologise but Frances was on a roll and wasn’t about to let him off that easy. “Oh you’re sorry? So you think you can just waltz back into our lives and say sorry and that fixes everything Andy?” she demanded.

“Frances just hear him out,” Laura implored her then Frances rounded on her. “Stop trying to tell me what to do Laura – I’m the eldest, not you!”

“Well if you aren’t even going to give him a chance why are you here?’ Laura argued, the two sisters glaring at each other.

“Ah ladies how about we all take a moment to calm down a bit eh?” Remington suggested in an attempt to diffuse the situation as Donald shot him a ‘good luck with that’ glance, having witnessed a few arguments between the Holt sisters over the time he’d been married to Frances.

“Stay out of this!” Laura snapped at him as he put his hands up in a conciliatory gesture and took a step back to where Donald was standing. “Take it from me Steele – you don’t want to get in the middle of this!” Donald warned under his breath.

Just as Andy went to say something to his sisters there was yet another knock at the door. Glad for the distraction Remington piped up, “I’ll go answer the door shall I?”, but none of the Holt siblings answered as they were too focused on each other.

He slid the door back to find the Holt family matriarch standing there. “Abigail!” he greeted her with some surprise as well as trepidation, wondering what her arrival would mean to the already tense situation unfolding in Laura’s loft.

“Hello Mr Steele. Lovely to see you,” she greeted him politely as he showed her inside.

“Mother!” both Laura and Frances exclaimed, both of them rather shocked to see her there.

“Hello girls,” she greeted them both as she kissed them on the cheek and said hello to Donald. She then turned her focus to her youngest child who stood there looking rather sheepish, wondering how she was going to react to seeing him again.

“Andrew,” she greeted him, her tone cool and expression unreadable. “Hi Mom,” he replied rather uncomfortably. “Well where’s my new grandson?” Abigail demanded as Ariana stepped forward with Matteo to stand next to Andy. “Here he is Mrs Holt. I’m Ariana and this is your grandson Matteo. We’re very pleased to meet you,” Ariana said with a smile which Abigail returned. “It’s lovely to meet you both too dear and please call me Abigail. May I hold him?” Abigail asked, her eyes misting over a little.

“Of course,” Ariana replied as she handed him to Abigail who cradled the baby boy in her arms. Meanwhile her children and their partners looked on, not sure what to say or do next.

“He’s beautiful Andrew,” Abigail stated, her voice choked with emotion. Andy nodded. “Yeah he is Mom.”

Abigail then looked at her son and Ariana. “So when are you going to do the right thing and marry this girl – the mother of your child?” she posed the question as Andy suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

“Well..um.. we haven’t really talked about it..,” he stammered as Ariana looked somewhat embarrassed as well.

“Well perhaps you should. I won’t have my grandson growing up with unmarried parents!” Abigail retorted firmly.

Feeling for her younger brother as she’d often been on the receiving end of lectures from their mother about getting married, Laura spoke up. “Mother that’s really up to them don’t you think?”

“Well of course I’d expect you to say that Laura. I mean you decided to live in sin with that Wilson fellow and look how well that turned out for you!” Abigail threw at her as a hurt, angry look crossed Laura’s face and Remington observed her reaction with concern.

“For heavens sake Mother - it’s the 1980’s not the 1950’s anymore!” she retorted in exasperation.

“Well even so - I mean look at your sister and Donald here. Happily married with three children – you should take a leaf out of her book and so should you Andrew!” Abigail stated adamantly.

“Mother - will you please stop comparing me to Frances! I am my own person - I have a successful career and..” Laura went to argue but Frances cut her off. “Oh so that makes you better than me does it Laura?”

“That’s not what she meant Frances!” Andy put in, coming to Laura’s defence.

“Who asked you little brother? What - suddenly you’re concerned about this family?” Frances threw at him, her tone becoming more high pitched as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her.

“Yes of course I am!” Andy retorted heatedly. “And as for marriage being the be all and end all of everything, I thought your experience with dear old Dad would have convinced you otherwise Mom!” he threw at Abigail who looked ready to explode.

Fearing the situation was starting to get a little out of hand again, with the stress of old wounds being reopened, Remington then suggested, “How about I make us all a nice pot of tea? It’s such a nice, soothing beverage,” as Donald looked at him and muttered, “I think you’re going to need something stronger than that,” as the two men watched the Holt family imploding before them.

In response to the raised voices little Matteo then began crying. “Now look what you’ve all done – you’ve upset the baby. Alright you three that’s enough - sit down! I did not get on a flight from Connecticut at some ridiculous hour of the morning to come here to listen to you argue with yourselves and me!” Abigail scolded her three adult children firmly as they did as they were told and sat down, suitably chastened, although they still cast each other the odd dirty look. Remington tried to hide a grin at the sight of Laura and her siblings looking very much as he imagined they would have as children.

Abigail took a breath to calm herself down a bit and gave Matteo back to Ariana to hold, then started speaking, the look she gave her children letting them know they best not interrupt her. “Now I know your father leaving was hard on you all – it was hard on me too. But you are all adults now so it’s time you stopped bickering like children and let go of the past. Now we have spent too many years separated and I for one am not going to let what your father did to us continue to keep us apart. We are a family – with or without him, and you are all my children and I love you all equally. We have all made mistakes and none of us are perfect – yes, not even me,” she confessed as her children looked at her with some surprise. “Now while I’ve got you all here and have your attention I’m going to give each of you some well overdue advice,” she continued as they all looked a little worried.

“Andrew – I know it was hard for you as a teenage boy when your father left, but I trust now you have your own child you have grown up and learnt some responsibility, as well as realising the importance of family,” she stated as she looked at her son who returned her gaze and replied sincerely, “I have Mom and I’m sorry I bailed all those years ago.”

“Good to hear. I just hope your son doesn’t grow up to give you as many headaches as you gave me,” Abigail replied as her expression softened somewhat and Andy couldn’t help but grin a little.

Laura then steeled herself as she thought her mother was doling out the lectures in age order from youngest to oldest, and she also was acutely aware of Remington standing in the background observing with great interest. But to her surprise, Abigail then moved onto Frances.

“Frances, I know I’ve put pressure on you over the years to be a role model for your sister and brother and I know that probably hasn’t been easy for you,” Abigail conceded as Frances looked at her with some surprise. “But you need to relax a little too and not get so dramatic about things,” Abigail continued as Donald nodded in agreement.

“And as for you Laura,” Abigail continued as she then focused on her middle child who looked at her expectantly, worrying what she was going to say. “First of all I wanted to thank you for persevering in bringing us all together again – you’re nothing if not stubborn,” Abigail stated as she gave Laura a knowing look. “And in response to your earlier comment, I only compare you to your sister as I want for you what she has – what I never really had, and that’s someone to share your life with who really loves and understands you,” Abigail stated as her gaze flicked for a moment to where Mr Steele stood next to her son-in-law Donald. “I know you’ve been hurt in the past but don’t let what your father or other men did make you give up on love. And while I’m very proud of what you’ve achieved in your professional life your job is not going to keep you warm at night.”

“Now I’ve said my piece to all of you – I sincerely hope you’ll take on board what I’ve said. Now Mr Steele that pot of tea sounds lovely,” she said in a no-nonsense fashion, letting her children know that was her final word on the matter, well for the time being anyway..


	7. Chapter 7

Keen to get out of there after receiving a lecture from her mother in front of Remington, Laura looked at her watch and announced, “Well as much as we’d love to stay, Mr Steele and I have a client meeting to get to,” as she gave him a meaningful look and nodded towards the door. “Ah yes..love to stay and chat with you all but duty calls eh Laura?” Remington took his cue.

“Well I’ll no doubt see you later Laura dear – It looks like you have a full house so I’ll stay with Frances and Donald while I’m here,” Abigail announced as Frances shot Laura a ‘thanks a lot’ look but then put on a smile as she turned to Abigail and replied, “Of course Mother.”

When Abigail then turned to focus on Andy, Laura took her chance and quickly bade them all farewell and headed for the door. “See you later sis – we’ll probably drop by the agency later,” Andy stated as Laura nodded and headed out the door with Remington in tow.

Once they were in the Auburn Laura said with a sigh, “I’m sorry you had to witness all that,” an embarrassed expression on her face. Remington took his eyes off the road for a moment or two to look at her. “Nothing to be sorry about Laura. In fact I quite enjoyed the dressing down your mother gave you all,” he gently teased her as despite herself, a rueful grin crossed her face. “Yes I’m sure you did,” she replied wryly.

“Well hopefully the atmosphere in your loft will be a bit less intense now though,” Remington offered as Laura nodded. “Hopefully so – I just hope my Mother and Frances hear Andy out and get some things resolved,” she stated as they drove along to the office.

The morning flew by quickly with a series of client meetings and a mountain of paperwork which Laura was grateful for to take her mind off things. As he’d mentioned, Andy and Ariana and Matteo dropped in around noon to catchup with Laura and Remington over lunch. They were chatting in Laura’s office while she put some files away, Andy filling them in on his subsequent conversation with their mother and sister, when Remington and Laura heard a familiar voice out in the reception area.

Remington walked out to greet the owner of said voice. “Mulch! To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?” he quipped with a grin which the older man returned as they shook hands.

“Mr Steele – good to see you. I was just telling Mildred here about my latest investment idea – sure fire winner this one,” Mulch replied enthusiastically as Mildred put in drolly, “I tried to tell him you weren’t interested boss.”

“Well let’s hear what the man has to say first before making any hasty judgements eh Mildred,” Remington replied with a lopsided grin, never one to pass up an opportunity to make a quick buck or two. Just then Laura emerged from her office with Andy, Ariana and Matteo following behind her.

“Let’s hear what the man has to say about what?” Laura demanded as she came up to the two men. Given their previous dealings with George Edward Mulch, she was naturally skeptical about any of his ‘ideas’. “Hello Miss Holt it’s lovely to see you too. Now if you’ll just hear me out you might be pleasantly surprised,” Mulch replied then as he went to launch into his spiel he suddenly spied the young woman who had walked out of the office behind Laura and he immediately froze.

“Maria?” he asked in shock as he peered at her. Ariana looked back at him, recognizing something familiar about him. “I’m sorry, you must have mistaken me for someone else. My mother’s name was Maria though..,” she replied, somewhat confused.

Upon hearing her reply Mulch looked even more shocked and looked even more closely at her. “Ariana?” he asked tentatively, his voice barely a whisper as the others all looked at him, wondering how he knew her name.

“How do you know her name? Babe – do you know this guy?” Andy asked as he looked at him with a degree of suspicion.

Ariana looked at the man standing in front of her as a memory of his voice came back to her. And although he looked older than she remembered, she knew exactly who it was.

“Yes Andy..yes I do know him. he’s my father,” Ariana stated as Remington, Laura, Andy & Mildred all looked at her and Mulch in disbelief..


	8. Chapter 8

“He’s what?!” Laura, Remington, Mildred and Andy all exclaimed in shock. “Well technically he’s my father but he hasn’t been a real father to me since I was a very young girl,” Ariana said a little bitterly as Mulch looked very uncomfortable with five pairs of eyes boring into him. “I’m sorry sweetheart but there were extenuating circumstances why I had to leave you and your mother. How is she by the way?” Mulch asked as he looked hopefully at his daughter.

At that Ariana’s expression darkened and Andy put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “My mother passed away six years ago but you would have known that if you had bothered to keep in touch,” she retorted as Mulch looked like he’d had the wind knocked out of him. “Oh no.. oh my poor Maria. I..I’m so sorry..I should have been there for you both..,” he replied, his voice a choked whisper and a look of despair on his face.

“Yes you should have,” Ariana shot back as she tried to fight back her tears and she held Matteo a bit closer to herself. Mulch looked at the two of them as she did so then he asked tentatively, “Is that my grandson?”

Ariana focused her gaze on the floor for a moment or two then nodded. “Yes.. yes he is. His name’s Matteo.”

“That’s a beautiful name for such a cute little fella - he kinda looks like me a bit don’t you think?” Mulch stated proudly as Laura rolled her eyes and Remington couldn’t help but chuckle, “Well he’s got more hair than you for a start Mulch. Sorry mate but I don’t think you got much of a look in with either your daughter or your grandson.”

Mulch nodded with a wry smile. “Yeah you’re right Mr Steele. My girl certainly takes after her mother – the most beautiful woman I ever met,” he stated somewhat wistfully as he looked at Ariana. “I don’t understand though – why are you here, in Los Angeles and in the Remington Steele detective agency?” he asked with some confusion.

“I think I can answer that for you Mr Mulch,” Andy stated as he stepped forward. “I’m Andy Holt – Laura’s brother. I’m Ariana’s boyfriend and Matteo’s dad,” he explained.

Mulch looked between Andy and Laura in disbelief but then he recognized the unmistakable family resemblance between them. “Miss Holt – I don’t believe it! Why we’re practically family,” he said with a grin as Laura tried to force a smile onto her face at the thought. He then turned to Andy and stated seriously, “Well I hope young man you’re going to do the right thing by my daughter and marry her.”

Andy sighed in exasperation and ran a hand through his hair. “What is it with parents and getting married?!”

“We will do the right thing for us Papa – whatever that might be. And you should talk – you and Mama were never married,” Ariana put in, her tone accusing.

“Well no..,” Mulch went to argue as he looked rather sheepish, “But that’s not the point. I wanted to marry her – honest, but I wanted to make my fortune first so I could give both of you the kind of life you deserved.”

“And leaving us was part of your grand plan to make your fortune was it? And how has that gone for you?” Ariana threw at him angrily.

“Ariana please..you have to know I thought about you all the time. Leaving you and your mother was the hardest thing I ever had to do and the biggest regret of my life,” Mulch pleaded with her.

“Obviously not enough to make you come back to us. You know I was worried when I came to Los Angeles I might run into you somehow – seems I was right to be worried,” she snapped back at him. She then turned to Andy and said adamantly, “Come on let’s get out of here. I have nothing else to say to this man and I don’t want to hear anything else he had to say either!”

Andy nodded as he flashed Ariana’s father a dirty look. “Ariana..sweetheart.. please…,” Mulch tried to stop her but she ignored him as she fought to get her overwhelming emotions under control and went and grabbed her bag. She apologised quickly to Laura and Remington then hurried out the door with Andy following close behind.

“I better go with them,” Laura stated, keen to be there for them, as Remington nodded in agreement, “Good idea.” After she headed out the door both he and Mildred turned to Mulch who was looking very troubled. “You want to fill us in mate?” Remington asked as he sat on the edge of Mildred’s desk and the two of them looked at Mulch expectantly.

Mulch sighed and shook his head. “I still can’t believe my little girl has a baby of her own. Where have those years gone? All those wasted years.”

“How did you meet her mother?” Mildred asked, her and Remington both realising there was a lot they obviously didn’t know about Mulch and his past.

A reminiscent smile crossed his face. “It was the late fifties – I’d decided to travel and see the world. I found myself in Italy and met the most beautiful, captivating woman – Maria, Ariana’s mother. Sophia Loren had nothing on her,” he stated with a grin which Remington returned. “What she saw in me I’ll never know,” he continued in a self-deprecating fashion. “But we were young and in love and I wanted to give her the world,” Mulch added, showing a sentimentality that neither Remington or Mildred had seen in him before. They both listened patiently, waiting for him to go on.

“And then she fell pregnant with Ariana – we didn’t exactly plan it but we were both over the moon about it. Maria’s family not so much though – they said she’d brought dishonour to them, being an unwed mother and pretty much disowned her,” Mulch stated regretfully.

“So why didn’t you marry her before she had the baby?’ Remington questioned, wondering to himself how differently his own life may have been if his unknown father had married his mother. Mildred also looked at Mulch somewhat accusingly.

“I wanted to Mr Steele, believe me, but I guess I didn’t feel good enough for her. I wanted to be able to provide for her and our baby. I did ask her once but she turned me down, said we didn’t need a piece of paper to prove how we felt about each other. Looking back I think she may have just done that to defy her family. She was a very strong willed woman – something which our daughter seems to have inherited,” he replied with a rueful half smile. “Anyway, we were married for all intents and purposes – we got a little place and had Ariana and everything was perfect, well for a while anyway. Those were the best years of my life,” Mulch confessed as he swallowed the lump in his throat.

“So what happened?” Mildred inquired, curious to know more.

“Let’s just say I got in a little over my head with a local ‘financial services provider’,” Mulch replied as he gave Remington a meaningful look. “I gather you mean a loan shark like our old friend Buckner eh?” Remington commented as Mulch nodded wryly. “Exactly Mr Steele – except this guy made Buckner look like a pussy cat. He had ‘family connections’ if you get my drift.”

“You mean he was part of the Mob?!” Mildred exclaimed in shock as Mulch nodded in confirmation.

“Unfortunately yes Miss Krebs. I’d had this great business idea which I needed capital for and he said he could offer me a deal.”

“Made you an offer you couldn’t refuse eh? Just like Don Vito Corleone in ‘ _The Godfather - Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Cann, Paramount Pictures, 1972’_?” Remington rattled off.

“Exactly Mr Steele. Unfortunately my business idea didn’t take off like I hoped it would..”

“And what was this brilliant idea you had Mulch?” Mildred asked.

“I was going to set up a chain of American style pizza stores – you know like Pizza Hut,” Mulch replied as Remington couldn’t help but laugh. “So you were going to try and sell pizza to the people who invented it?” he asked as Mulch looked a little perturbed. “Well it sounded like a good idea at the time,” he offered as Remington raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.

“Well anyway to cut a long story short, I didn’t have the money to pay this guy back. And he wasn’t very happy about that – he had me roughed up a couple of times and then he threatened to harm Maria and Ariana if I didn’t pay up,” Mulch continued his story, his expression serious. “So in order to keep them safe I knew my only option was to leave them,” he added sadly. “I came back to the States and settled in Los Angeles. I’d send them money when I could and tried to write to them, but after a while my letters kept coming back “Return to Sender’, so I guess after that I gave up trying to keep in touch. I always meant to go back to them but I guess as the years went by I figured they’d be better off without me. And now I’ll never get the chance to see my beautiful Maria, the love of my life again,“ he lamented.

Remington and Mildred exchanged a worried glance, both feeling for the man as they witnessed a totally different side to him. Remington finally spoke. “Well yes Mulch that much is unfortunately true but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to make things right with your daughter.“

Mulch focused his gaze on the floor. “Oh I don’t know about that Mr Steele. You saw the way she reacted to me just now. I don’t think she’s about to welcome me back into her life with open arms,” he replied dejectedly.

“So that’s it then? You’re just going to give up?” Mildred demanded. “Is this the same guy who keeps coming up with new business ideas all the time, despite your, how shall we say, varying levels of success? The George Edward Mulch I know wouldn’t give up that easily,” she added in an effort to convince him.

“She’s right you know,” Remington put in with an encouraging smile. “Fate had given you another chance to be a part of your daughter’s life, as well as your grandson’s. You don’t want to pass that up do you? I remember you telling me something a while back that your father used to say – You win some, you lose some and some days you get rained on, but you dress for every game. I think it’s about time you got dressed mate don’t you think?”

Mulch looked at the two of them, knowing he had to at least try. “Yes Mr Steele I think you’re right,” he agreed as he returned the younger man’s smile with a grateful one of his own..


	9. Chapter 9

After Mr Steele and Mildred convinced him not to give up his hopes of reconciling with his daughter, Mulch brightened considerably.

“Maybe if I can just talk to Miss Holt’s brother he could help me convince Ariana to change her mind about me?” he said with a hopeful look.

“Well I guess it’s worth a try George,” Remington agreed.

“Would you come with me Mr Steele? For some moral support you know?” Mulch asked a bit unsurely.

“Sure mate,” Remington replied with an encouraging smile.

They arranged to meet Andy that night. Although he had been a bit hesitant at first to meet with Ariana’s father, Remington put in a good word for Mulch which convinced him to at least hear what he had to say. Remington suspected Laura may have had a bit of a hand in that as well.

Andy met them at a bar near Hollywood & Vine that Mulch frequented, Musso & Frank’s. “Well I’m here – what have you got to tell me?” he demanded of Mulch after he greeted him and Remington.

“Thank you for coming Andy,” Mulch greeted him somewhat nervously with a smile which the younger man did not return. “Well I’m here for Ariana’s sake not yours,” Andy replied with a determined set to his jaw that reminded Remington very much of his sister.

Mulch nodded, knowing this wasn’t going to be easy but he also knew he had to at least try if he was going to have any chance of reconciling with his daughter and being part of her life again.

“How about I get us all a drink?” he offered, knowing he could do with a bit of ‘dutch courage’. “Alright – I’ll have a beer,” Andy stated. “Ah Irish whiskey for me thanks George,” Remington put in as Mulch ordered drinks for the three of them.

They all took a sip of their drinks then George turned to Andy and said sincerely, “You must understand Andy – I never meant to abandon Ariana and her mother,” hoping the younger man would believe him.

Andy shook his head and replied bitterly, “Trust me I know about fathers abandoning their children,” as Mulch looked at him with some surprise. “Our old man took off when I was fourteen – it was rough on all of us,” Andy explained. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Mulch replied genuinely. “And believe me I am sorry for depriving Ariana of a father for all those years.”

“What about you Remington? Do you see your father much?” Andy asked as Remington’s jaw clenched a little. He focused his gaze momentarily on the ground as he pulled on an earlobe. “Ah no.. I don’t actually know who my father is. My mother died giving birth to me and none of the distant relatives I was passed around to ever enlightened me as to my father’s identity,” he replied somewhat uncomfortably as Andy and Mulch both looked at him sympathetically. Eager to change the subject and divert the focus of the conversation from the fact he didn’t know who his father was, he added, “George why don’t you tell Andy what you told me this afternoon eh?”

“Yes, yes of course,” Mulch replied hurriedly as he took another gulp of his drink. Andy leant back in his seat and looked at him expectantly as Mulch started explaining. “You see I never wanted to leave them but I felt like I had no choice – I had to keep them safe. I know that will be hard for Ariana to hear let alone understand but I’m hoping you can help me convince her to at least give me a chance to be a proper father to her again and to be a grandfather to that gorgeous little boy of yours. I’ve wasted so many years – I don’t want to waste any more,” he stated earnestly.

Andy looked at him for a moment or two, trying to decide if he was on the level or not. He then turned to Remington and asked, “So you’d vouch for this guy?”

Without hesitating Remington nodded, much to Mulch’s relief. “He might have some less than stellar business ideas,” he stated as Mulch winced a little, “but I have never seen this man as genuine as he is now. All in all he’s a good guy Andy.” Mulch looked at him gratefully as they both waited for Andy’s response.

“Well that’s good enough for me then,” Andy confirmed with a smile as Mulch breathed a sigh of relief. “Thankyou Andy and thankyou Mr Steele,” Mulch replied as a hopeful smile crossed his face.

“Well don’t thank me yet George – I’ll try and talk to her for you but I can’t guarantee she’ll change her mind. She can be a bit stubborn sometimes,” Andy informed him. Mulch nodded with a reminiscent smile. “Just like her mother,” he stated as Remington couldn’t help but put in with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, “Hmm – sounds like a woman I know too.”

After a few more rounds the three of them were rather ‘merry’. “You know Remington you are a great guy – you and Laura should be together, I mean really together. You’re good for her - much better than that stupid boring jerk Wilson was. A banker? I mean really come on, what was she thinking?” Andy stated as he shook his head with a drunken laugh.

“Why thankyou my good man. And I must say I do agree about that Jeffries fellow. I can’t imagine what Laura saw in him - he’s nothing like the sort of man she needs,” Remington replied with a somewhat inebriated grin.

“And what sort of man does she need Mr Steele – someone like you perhaps?” Mulch asked with a twinkle in his eye.

A rueful smile crossed Remington’s face. “I’d like to think so Georgie but I don’t know if she thinks the same,” he admitted.

“Nah come on man - of course she does,” Andy put in encouragingly as he patted Remington on the shoulder. “Let me tell you something about my sister – I think she’s so scared of being hurt again that she’s afraid to put her heart on the line and admit how she really feels about you. The thing with Laura is she hates not being in control – even when we were kids she had to be the boss of every game and you had to play by her rules and there’d be hell to pay if you didn’t,” he recalled with a wry grin.

“So nothing much has changed then?’ Remington quipped with a cheeky grin of his own as Andy laughed, “Apparently not.”

“Take it from me Mr Steele – take your chance with her while you’ve got it. Don’t wait too long or it might be gone,” Mulch commented sadly as he drained his drink, giving Remington some food for thought as they continued to drink and chat, completely losing track of time until the barman started closing up and tossed them out.

When the three men eventually got back to the loft they were greeted by a less than happy Laura and Ariana. “What time do you call this?” Laura demanded as Remington leant on the door jamb to prop himself up a bit as he tried to focus on his watch. “I would call it 2 am,” he replied as he tried not to laugh and Andy chuckled, “Good one Rem,” which infuriated her even more.

Ariana then turned to Andy, her expression even more furious then Laura’s. “I was worried sick about you! No call, no nothing!” she yelled at him as he looked sheepish. “Oh come on babe we were just having a few drinks and getting to know each other better and I guess we just lost track of time,” he tried to explain as he went to kiss her but she held him off. “Oh no you don’t Andy Holt! You stink of beer!” she exclaimed as Remington sniffed Andy’s jacket and stated with a rueful grin, “She’s right you know.”

Mulch then tried to come to Andy’s defence. “Now, now Ariana sweetheart – don’t be upset with Andy. It was my idea to go to a bar and he was just being sociable.”

Ariana then focused her ire on her father. “I would have hoped being the elder of the group you would have been more responsible Papa,” she threw at him then she began swearing in Italian under her breath at the two of them. Andy had picked up enough Italian over the time he’d spent there to know what she was saying and he looked at her with a somewhat shocked expression. “Don’t look at me like that - you all should be ashamed of yourselves!” she reverted back to English as Laura crossed her arms in front of her and nodded in agreement.

“Now, now ladies,” Remington began as he put his hands up in an effort to placate them, “Georgie and Andy and I were just having a bit of a chat over a couple of drinks – just a few fellas minding their own business and not causing any trouble,” as both women looked at him with identical unimpressed expressions on their faces.

“Well to be fair we did cause a little bit of trouble when we got up to sing karaoke and half the other patrons left,” Mulch put in with a grin as Remington grinned back at him. “Ah yes well there’s that - but they were just jealous of our vocal talents,” Remington replied as Laura rolled her eyes at him.

“You got up and sang?” she asked in disbelief as he nodded in confirmation. “We most certainly did and we were good too!” he replied adamantly as he broke into ‘When Irish Eyes are Smiling’ and Andy and Mulch joined in, the sound of their raucous, drunken singing waking Matteo up.

“Oh you three are unbelievable! Shut up will you!” Laura hissed at them. Ariana shot them all a dirty look as well then went to get Matteo out of his cot to settle him but Remington put up a hand to stop her.

“No allow me – least I can do after we woke the little tyke up eh?” he stated, trying not to slur his words as Laura watched him, thinking to herself, ‘This should be good’. She watched as he carefully picked Matteo up saying softly to him, “There, there mate it’s okay – sorry your Dad and Grandpa and I were a bit noisy. But I was just trying to explain to your Aunty Laura that there was nothing for her and your Mamma to be angry about it.”

Laura stared at him with her hands on her hips and a forced smile on her face and demanded, “Oh really?”

“Yes really,” Remington replied then looking down at the baby boy he held in his arms and with a silly drunken grin on his face he stated matter-of-factly, “Take it from your ole Uncle Remington mate – women should never be argued with. You will never win,” to which Matteo let out a little giggle.

“Ah you’re laughing now my young friend but wait till you’re older – you’ll know what I’m talking about then believe you me,” Remington continued as Laura tried to hide a grin despite herself, the sight of him holding little Matteo dissolving her anger somewhat.

“Imparting some pearls of wisdom there I see, ‘Uncle Remington’,” she teased him a little as he tried to look serious but failed miserably in his inebriated state. “Just giving the wee lad some advice for when he’s older,” he replied as Laura nodded with a knowing smile.

“Well how about you give me the baby in case you trip while you’re holding him,” she suggested as Remington looked indignant. “Are you insinuating I’m drunk Laura? I still know how to walk,” he retorted as she shook her head at him. “I’m not insinuating anything - I’m telling you you’re drunk Mr Steele, so I think you need to go sleep it off. I’ll call a cab for you and you should take Mulch with you so he doesn’t get into any more trouble either,” Laura replied adamantly as she cast a look at Mulch who was sitting on the sofa looking a bit worse for wear.

“I’m fine Miss Holt really,” Mulch went to protest as he stood up but then swayed a little on his feet so he quickly sat back down again as Ariana shook her head at him. Laura picked up the phone and called for a cab.

“Here get some coffees into you at least while you’re waiting,” she then set about making coffees for the three men in an effort to sober them up a little. They gratefully accepted them then once they got a call to say the cab was waiting downstairs Remington and Mulch somehow staggered to the door. “I’m sorry sweetheart - the last thing I wanted to do was upset you,” Mulch tried to apologise to Ariana. She looked at him in his pitiful state and couldn’t help feeling a little bit sorry for him. “Just go and sleep it off Papa – we’ll talk more tomorrow.”

He nodded to her gratefully then turned to Laura. “Thankyou Miss Holt – you are very kind. I always said you were kind. Andy you have a very kind sister do you know that?” he babbled on as Laura forced a smile onto her face and thanked him as she steered him out the door. “Goodnight Mulch! Goodnight Mr Steele!” she said firmly as Remington puckered up his lips, waiting for a kiss. To his disappointment she gave him a peck on the cheek instead then pushed him out the door too saying, “Go and get some sleep – we need to be at the office bright and early.” He pouted a little then muttered, “Right you are – goodnight Laura,” then he called out “Night Andy – good luck mate! I think you’re going to need it.”

“Catch ya later buddy – great night! You know I think you may be right,” Andy called back as he looked at his girlfriend and sister, neither of whom looked very happy with him. He flopped down on the bed then said, “He’s a great guy Laura – you really should give him a chance you know?”

Laura looked at him then retorted, “When I want relationship advice from my drunk little brother I’ll ask you okay?”

“Okay, okay – don’t bite my head off sis. I’m just sayin’,” he laughed drunkenly. Laura went to tell him to mind his own business but was stopped by the sound of his snoring. She rolled her eyes as she looked as Ariana as they both sighed in exasperation, “Men!”

************************************


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning the three men all woke with rather sore heads. “Come on George rise and shine mate,” Remington urged the older man after he had awoken and walked into the bedroom where he had insisted George sleep off his rather inebriated state while he bunked down on the couch. Mulch slowly opened one eye and then the other, a bit confused at first as he took in his rather luxurious surroundings, which were in stark contrast to the modest apartment he called home. Once he spied Mr Steele standing at the foot of the bed though he remembered where he was. “Oh hello Mr Steele,” Mulch managed to reply as he rubbed a hand over his face to try and wake himself up a bit.

“You look how I feel old chap,” Remington remarked with a rueful lopsided grin, his own head pounding painfully after their drinking session the night before. “Feel free to hop in the shower if you like – I’ll fix us some breakfast eh?” he offered as Mulch nodded gratefully.

Meanwhile across town at Laura’s loft, her brother wasn’t feeling much better. “Oh Matty can you keep it down a little – your old man has a headache,” Andy groaned as Matteo was squealing happily while Aunty Laura played peek-a-boo with him. “Well your silly old man had too many grown up drinks with your Grandpa and ‘Uncle Remington’ didn’t he?” Laura retorted as she picked Matteo up from his cot and Andy shot her a withering look. “Don’t you have a detective agency or something to go to?” he grumbled as Laura couldn’t help but laugh as she shared a grin with Ariana.

“Well if you go out all night drinking you’ve got to expect a sore head the next day,” Ariana put in as Andy pouted a little. “Oh don’t you start with the lectures too babe – I’ve had enough from big sister here,” he grumbled then added, “Anyway, I need to talk to you about something.”

“What?” Ariana asked curiously.

“Your father,” Andy replied as he gave her a meaningful look. Ariana avoided his gaze and replied adamantly, “I don’t want to talk about him.”

“Well you need to,” Andy shot back just as adamantly. “Look I know he left you and your mother but he had a good reason to - he explained a few things to me last night and I think you should at least give him the chance to explain it to you as well,” he added sincerely.

Ariana however shook her head. “I don’t care what he told you last night! He abandoned us!” she exclaimed heatedly as she fought back the tears that had sprung to her eyes.

“Trust me I understand that babe, but he’s really not a bad guy. Just hear him out that’s all I’m saying,” Andy replied gently in an effort to convince her then looked at Laura for support. “Help me out here sis huh?” he pleaded.

Laura looked at both of them as she held Matteo, choosing her words carefully. “Ultimately it’s up to you Ariana but I do agree with Andy – George has his faults that’s true, but I think he really wants to make up for the past and be a part of your life again,” she stated.

Ariana paused for a moment then figured it wouldn’t hurt to at least hear him out. “Okay, okay – I guess it wouldn’t hurt to hear what he has to say,” she conceded as Andy and Laura both smiled encouragingly at her with their identical dimpled smiles, the two of them both wondering to themselves what would they do if faced with the same opportunity – to hear from their absent father why he had left them all those years ago.

“How about we give your father a call then? I’d say there’s a fair chance he’s still at Mr Steele’s apartment,” Laura suggested as Ariana nodded gratefully.

Meanwhile Remington had just about finished making breakfast for himself and Mulch when he heard the phone ring. “Steele here,” he answered it as he wiped his hands on a tea towel. “Morning – how’s the head?” Laura asked on the other end as a rueful chuckle escaped his lips. “Morning Laura - well it’s been better, put it that way.”

“I’ll bet,” Laura laughed.

“Your sympathy is touching Laura,” Remington groused a little.

“Well when it’s self inflicted my sympathy is limited I’m afraid Mr Steele,” she retorted then asked, “Is Mulch still there?”

“Yes he is. I’ve just finished making some breakfast for the two of us,” Remington informed her.

“Good. His daughter would like to talk to him. Maybe I can drop her round to your apartment then we can head into the office together?” Laura suggested.

“Sounds like a plan. Hang on I’ll put him on,” Remington replied as Mulch emerged from the bedroom and he handed the phone to him.

After speaking to Laura, Mulch hung up, a smile beaming across his face. “Ariana’s agreed to speak to me – Miss Holt’s going to bring her round here if that’s okay with you,” he announced as Remington nodded. “That’s perfectly fine George – happy to help. I hope it works out for you and she listens to what you have to say.”

“So do I Mr Steele, so do I,” Mulch stated hopefully.

***************************************

“So do you want me to come with you babe?” Andy asked Ariana. She smiled and shook her head. “Thanks but no Andy I think this is something I need to do by myself,” she replied as he nodded understandingly.

“And I think maybe it would be a good opportunity for you to focus on your own family matters hey?” she suggested gently as Andy grinned wryly at her. ”Yeah I guess you’re right,” he agreed, knowing he also had some fences to mend with his mother and eldest sister and that he couldn’t put it off forever.

“How about you take my car then Andy to go over to Frances’s house? I’ll give you her address – they’re in Tarzana,” Laura stated. “That way Matteo can meet his cousins too,” she added as she smiled at her little nephew.

“Thanks Laura,” Andy replied gratefully, “but how will you two get to Mr Steele’s then?”

“I’ll get Fred to pick us up,” Laura replied.

“Who’s Fred?” Andy asked.

“Oh he’s the agency’s chauffeur,” she explained.

Chauffeur? Wow – business must be good huh?” Andy laughed as Laura nodded and replied with a twinkle in her eye, “Well yes we do alright. And we have an image to maintain after all.”

“So how long have you worked for Mr Steele Laura?” Ariana asked as Laura tried to keep her expression neutral.

“Well..um..I’d say around three years now,” she replied hurriedly and as she did so Andy looked at her a little curiously. Even though they hadn’t spent much time together for quite some time, he could still tell when his sister was hiding something.

“Well it was lucky you scored a gig with him after your own agency didn’t work out,” he commented.

“Yes indeed it was,” Laura replied a little tight lipped as she forced a smile onto her face.

“So how did that happen anyway? That you came to work for him I mean,” Andy pressed her further, noting the fleeting, slightly cagey expression that crossed her face.

“What’s with the twenty questions little brother? I’m the detective of the family not you remember,” she avoided answering his question then in an effort to change the subject said, “Anyway I need to call Fred to come pick us up,” as she picked up the phone and started dialing.

*************************************

Once Fred had dropped Laura and Ariana to Mr Steeles’s apartment than carried onto the agency with Laura and Mr Steele, father and daughter found themselves alone.

“Thankyou for agreeing to meet with me sweetheart,” Mulch said a little nervously as he gestured for Ariana to sit down. “Would you like some coffee or tea?” he offered as she shook her head.

“No - I would like an explanation though as to why you left us,” she replied in a no-nonsense tone of voice.

“Yes, yes of course,” Mulch replied hurriedly as he sat down at the dining table opposite her.

He paused for a moment, trying to find the strength as well as the right words to explain. “I made a mistake – well a series of mistakes really. You see I haven’t had much luck over the years with my various business ideas, but I thought this time I had a surefire winner which would have set us up for life. Unfortunately it didn’t quite work out that way,” he admitted as he shook his head with a good deal of self-derision.

Ariana looked at him expectantly as she waited for him to continue. “I ah.. borrowed some money to finance my idea and when it didn’t pan out like I’d hoped the ah..lender wasn’t too happy about it. I guess that’s what I get for not borrowing money from reputable sources.”

“Who was this lender?” Ariana asked. “His name doesn’t matter and it’s probably better for your sake if you don’t know. Suffice to say he was part of the mafia,” Mulch replied rather awkwardly as Ariana’s eyes widened in shock.

“When I couldn’t pay him he had me beaten up a couple of times,” he explained and then he paused, finding the next part of his story difficult to tell his beloved daughter. He blew out a breath then continued. “Then he ah.. threated to hurt you and your mother if I didn’t pay him back. I couldn’t let him hurt either of you my darling girl,” he stated sincerely as he fought to keep his emotions under control and Ariana tried to hold back her own tears.

“So I did the only thing I thought I could do to keep you both safe – I left Italy and came back to the States,” Mulch stated. “I tried my hand in movie producing but nothing came of it, then I decided to branch out into some other business ventures – all with the hope of getting back to the two of you someday, but with limited success I’m afraid,” he shook his head sadly.

“I did try to write and send money to you both but after a while I guess your mother didn’t want to hear from me so my letters started coming back, “Return to Sender.” I wasn’t sure if you had moved and I figured the two of you were better off without me anyway. But not a day has gone by when I haven’t missed the both of you with all my heart and regretted leaving you and your mother Ariana. Your mother was the love of my life and you my beautiful girl were, and still are, the apple of my eye,” he said with tears in his eyes as he tentatively reached out to cover one of her hands with his.

“I’ve carried this photo around with me for the past twenty one years,” he added in an effort to convince her of his sincerity as he pulled a faded photo out of his wallet and handed it to her. Ariana took it with trembling hands and looked at the picture of her four year old self, sitting on her father’s lap with her mother sitting next to them, the three of them smiling happily.

“I’m so, so sorry sweetheart. You’ve got to believe me – I never meant to hurt either of you. If you can find it in your heart to give me a second chance I would like nothing more than to be part of your life again,” Mulch pleaded for forgiveness.

Ariana paused for a moment or two, a myriad of emotions coursing through her, while her father sat watching her, waiting for her answer. “Oh Papa – I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you so much. I wish I had known all this years ago,” she sobbed as Mulch tried to wipe away his own tears.

“I wish you had too. Now I know I can’t change the past, as much as I might like to, but I’d like the opportunity to create a new future for us, that is if you want that as well. You know after all these years away from you and your mother and all my failed business ventures, I had started to think that I was destined to never succeed at anything in my life – that is until I met Mr Steele and he helped me to see that maybe there was something about George Edward Mulch that wasn’t so bad after all. I hope maybe you can see that as well,” he added hopefully.

Ariana looked at him then nodded. “Yes..yes I can see that. And I would like you to be part of my life and your grandson’s. One thing I have realised more than ever since I became a mother is the importance of family – and we are family. Ti amo Papa,” she said with a watery smile which her father returned as he got up from his seat and went and hugged her, holding her close to his heart and remembering the Italian phrase her mother had taught him, replied, “Ti amo mia bellissima figlia.”


	11. Chapter 11

After a busy morning of client meetings & paperwork, Laura & Remington grabbed a quick bite for lunch at a local café. “I wonder how Mulch and Ariana are getting on? I hope they can sort things out,” Laura commented as Remington nodded in agreement. “Yes let’s hope so. Hopefully your brother’s able to bridge the gap with your mother and sister too,” he added as Laura sighed a little. “Well I’m realistic enough to know that’s not going to happen overnight but hopefully with some time and patience it will.”

Remington reached across the table and squeezed one of her hands as he flashed her an encouraging smile. “Well you’ve helped set the wheels in motion - I guess the rest is up to them eh?” he stated as Laura nodded with a small smile of her own.

“Well you’ve helped as well,” Laura pointed out, “and not only with my family, but with Mulch and Ariana too.”

Remington paused for a moment then confessed, “Well I guess not having a family of my own, I like to see other families being able to reunite.”

Laura then squeezed his hand back reassuringly. “Thank you,” she said sincerely as he nodded in acknowledgment, suddenly at a loss for words, as the pain of his orphaned past threatened to rear its ugly head again.

“I hope one day you can find the answers to your past that you’re looking for. I guess the last few days have shown me that our pasts don’t necessarily have to determine our futures though,” Laura continued with a smile as she gave him a meaningful look.

“Yes I suppose you’re right Laura,” Remington replied, pondering her words and the apparent change in her thinking that they suggested. She had always been a stickler for finding out about his past but was she now saying that the future was more important than the past, and could he dare to hope that was a future she envisaged him in? he wondered.

They shared a glance that spoke volumes then both a bit over whelmed with emotion they focused on their menus. “Guess we should order then eh?” Remington said a little hurriedly as he tugged on an earlobe. “Yes I guess so,” Laura replied just as hurriedly as she snuck a look at him – the ‘mystery man’ who over the past few years had become such an integral part of her life that she couldn’t imagine a future without him.

She found herself thinking about how he and Andy had hit it off so well and her brother’s words to her the night before. Of all her family members, Andy was the one who had always understood her the most and it seemed like he still did. She had been devastated by their father leaving and then she had been hurt further by Andy shutting her out and resisting her attempts to get him back on the right track. But, she thought to herself, it looked like second chances were the order of the day, for quite a few people. And she also realised that her little brother had certainly grown up a bit from that angry, rebellious teenage boy he had once been and maybe he had gained a bit of wisdom along the way.

Remington couldn’t help but notice the hint of a dimpled smile that had crossed her face. “Why the smile?” he inquired with a lift of an eyebrow. “Oh I was just thinking of something Andy said to me last night.”

“Care to elaborate?” Remington pressed her as she flashed him a mischievous grin and replied, ”Maybe someday.”

He shot her a somewhat frustrated look but his attempt to question her further was thwarted when the waitress came to take their order. Laura breathed a sigh of relief, not quite ready to reveal the advice Andy had given her to the man who was the subject of that advice. 

Once they had ordered, Laura deftly changed the subject to their latest case so she wouldn’t have to respond to any questions she didn’t have the answers for just yet, much to Remington’s chagrin.

**************************************************

They caught up with Andy and Ariana at the end of the day, back at Laura’s loft. “So how did things go with your father?” Remington asked Ariana. “Good I think. We talked and he explained to me why he had to leave us. I just wish I’d known all this years ago - so many wasted years,” she replied with a bitter sweet smile as both Remington and Laura nodded sympathetically.

“And how did you get on with Frances and Mother, Andy?” Laura asked her brother. “Well it was a bit awkward at first but we managed to air out a few things. I think apologizing for being such a little brat back in the day helped a bit,” he stated with a rueful grin as Laura found herself grinning a little as well. “Well yes you were a brat at times but you were young and hurting and made some not so great choices. But I think it’s time we left the past where it belongs don’t you think little brother?” she replied.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself sis,” Andy agreed. He then turned to Remington with a mischievous twinkle in his brown eyes and added, “But if you’d like to know what Laura got up to her in her younger years I’m open to offers.”

“Don’t you dare!” Laura threatened as she whacked her brother on the arm and flashed him a dirty look and Remington tried unsuccessfully to stifle a chuckle. “I might just have to take you up on that mate,” he replied with a cheeky lopsided grin as Laura rolled her eyes at him. She then turned to Andy and Ariana and asked, “So what’s your plans for the future? Are you going to keep living in Italy?”

The young couple exchanged a smile. “Actually we were just discussing that before you got home. We’ll have to go back to Italy for a while to organize things, but we’re thinking of moving back here full time. We’ll have to get Ariana and Matteo’s immigration papers sorted out of course and that might take a while but I think now Ariana’s found her dad here and my family is here it makes sense for us to base ourselves in the States,” Andy stated as Ariana nodded in agreement.

“Oh that’s wonderful!” Laura replied enthusiastically as she hugged them both. “It’ll be good to have you home Andy. As much as I hate to admit it when our Mother is right, she hit the nail on the head the other day when she said our family has spent too much time apart,” she added seriously as Andy nodded. “It’ll be good to be home Laura. And to create a new home for us,” he replied as he put an arm around Ariana.

“Well this calls for a celebration don’t you think?” Remington stated with a smile as Laura nodded and grabbed a bottle of wine out of her pantry and poured four glasses. “What shall we drink to?” Andy asked as Laura handed a glass to him. “How about family eh?” Remington suggested, his eyes never leaving Laura’s as the four of them raised their glasses and toasted, “To family.”

***************************************************

The following week Laura and Remington dropped Andy, Mariana and little Matteo to LAX to catch their flight back to Rome. “Oh I’m gonna miss this little guy. Don’t you forget your Aunt Laura okay?” Laura said with a smile as she had one last cuddle of Matteo and planted a kiss on his head before handing him back to Ariana. “Well hopefully we’ll be back sooner rather than later,” Andy replied as Ariana nodded.

“Laura, Remington – it was so lovely to meet you both and thank you for all your help. If it wasn’t for you both I never would have found my father again,” Ariana stated gratefully as she kissed the two of them on both cheeks. “It was lovely to meet you too Ariana,” Laura replied as Remington nodded. “It’s good to see my wayward little brother has found someone who can keep him in line,” she added with a grin as Andy rolled his eyes at her but couldn’t help grinning as well.

“Well Remington it was great to meet you man – good luck keeping my sister here in line. Don’t let her boss you around too much huh?” Andy retorted as he gave Laura a meaningful look and she wondered if he had somehow managed to figure out her secret.

“Well I’ll try my best,” Remington quipped with a chuckle then added as he shook hands with Andy, “Great to meet you too mate and looking forward to seeing you all back here permanently in the not too distant future.”

Andy then turned to Laura. “Thanks Laura for everything – I really mean that. Thanks..for believing in me and going into bat for me with Mom and Frances,” he stated sincerely. “You’re welcome Andy,” Laura replied with a smile as they hugged affectionately, both glad to have the other back in their lives. “Don’t be a stranger hey?” she said with a dimpled grin which he returned. “I won’t – I promise,” he replied as he gave her a peck on the cheek and then he, Ariana and Matteo headed through the departure gate, Laura and Remington waving them goodbye.

******************************************************

_Epilogue_

Friday morning, a few weeks later..

Remington was sitting in his office skimming through the LA Tribune on one of the rare mornings he arrived at the agency before Laura, his mind going back over the events of the past few weeks - Laura’s long lost brother coming back into her life and George Mulch’s long lost daughter coming back into his. And as he marveled at the strange workings of fate he couldn’t help feeling a little twinge of envy, wondering if he would ever find his long lost father.

He had no sooner thought this when Mildred knocked on his door. “Come in Mildred,” he called as she walked in carrying a package. “This just got delivered for you boss,” she said with a smile as she handed the package to him. “Thank you Mildred,” he returned the smile as he took the package and looked at it - his address had been typed on a label affixed to the front of it and he noted there was no return address. He also noticed with interest that the post mark said ‘Kerry Clare, Eire.’

Mildred left him to open it in private. He turned it over in his hands for a moment or two, wondering what it could be and who it could be from – some distant relative in Ireland perhaps? ‘Well only one way to find out sport’ he told himself, his curiosity getting the better of him as he carefully opened it to find a gold pocket watch and a note inside.

He picked up the watch and opened it as the tune of ‘ _When Irish Eyes are Smiling’_ started playing from it. He then noticed an engraved inscription inside the cover of the watch: ‘ _To S.J. from K.L.’_

“Who in the blazes is S.J. or K.L. for that matter?” he muttered under his breath.

Hoping to find some clues as to the significance of the watch and the initials, he picked up the accompanying note and read the single sentence written on it:

 _Your father wanted you to have this_.

At the bottom of the note was a signature, _Patrick O’Rourke._

Remington could feel his heart hammering in his chest, wondering if this was really happening. Was this a clue to the identity of his long lost father? His father had wanted him to have this watch and entrusted it to this Patrick O’Rourke chap to send to him it appeared. He carefully rubbed his fingers over the watch, as if trying to connect to his father who at some point it seemed had owned this watch and held it in his own hands. He wracked his brain trying to figure out what the initials KL or SJ could stand for, neither of them ringing any bells.

But there was something he did know – he knew he had to try and find out what it all meant and track down this Patrick O’Rourke to get some long overdue answers from him. Since Laura’s recent reunion with her brother and Mulch’s with his daughter, a passion that had burnt within him for as long as he could remember had been reignited. A burning desire to find out who his father was, who his mother was, who his family was, but most importantly – who he was. If he knew that, he could truly give himself to Laura as well, he thought to himself.

He rubbed a hand over his face then made his mind up. He couldn’t pass up this chance that had literally dropped into his lap to uncover the mysteries of his past. He picked up the phone and started dialing. “Yes hello – I’d like to book a return flight to Dublin. Yes the next one you have today if at all possible. The name’s O’Leary – Michael O’Leary,” he said to the travel agent, thinking as he did so, hopefully if this pans out I can stop using aliases – I’ll finally know my real name after all these years.

He fished the relevant fake passport out of the secret hiding place in his desk, then putting it and the watch and note into his jacket pocket he called Fred to bring the limo around. He hastily scribbled a note to Laura saying he was taking a long weekend and would be back on Monday and left it on the desk in her office where he knew she would see it when she got in.

He then walked out to the reception area and informed Mildred he was taking the rest of the day off to attend to some personal business and would be back on Monday and that he had left a note for Miss Holt telling her the same thing. “Okay chief. What’s the rush?” a bemused Mildred asked as she watched him dash out the door, wondering why he was in such a hurry.

“Just following a trend Mildred – well trying to anyway,” he quipped with an excited grin, hoping it was now his turn to reunite with a long lost relative…


End file.
